Republic of Užice

Infobox Former Country
native_name = Ужичка република
Užička republika
conventional_long_name = Republic of Užice
common_name = Užice
continent = Europe
region = Balkans
country = Serbia
status = Unrecognized state
government_type = Socialist republic
p1 = Serbia (1941-1944)
flag_p1 = Flag of Germany 1933.svg
s1 = Serbia (1941-1944)
flag_s1 = Flag of Germany 1933.svg
legislature = Main People's Council of Serbia
capital = Užice
national_anthem = "No official anthem specified"¹
common_languages = Serbo-Croatian
("de facto" Užičan dialect)
currency = Yugoslav dinar Fact|date=August 2007
year_start = 1941
year_end = 1941
event_pre = Partisans in Užice
date_pre = July 28, 1941
event_start = Battle of Drežnik
date_start = August 18, 1941
event1 = German ultimatum
date_event1 = September 10, 1941
event2 = Liberation of Užice
date_event2 = September 24, 1941
event3 = Battle of Kadinjača
date_event3 = November 29, 1941
event_end = Conquered
date_end = December 1, 1941


image_map_caption = The Republic of Užice within World War II Serbia
era = World War II
title_leader= Chairman²
leader1 = Dragojlo Dudić
title_deputy= General Secretary³
deputy1 = Josip Broz Tito
footnotes = ¹ Hey, Slavs and other partisan songs were unofficially used
²Chairman of the Main Peoples Council of Serbia
³General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Also Commander in Chief of the Partisans.

The Republic of Užice (Serbo-Croatian: Ужичка република, "Užička Republika") was a short-lived military mini-state that existed in Autumn 1941 in the western part of Nazi-occupied Serbia. The Republic was established by the fighters of the Partisan resistance movement and its capital was in the town of Užice.

History

The Republic of Užice comprised almost all of western Serbia and had a population of more than 300,000 people. It was located between the line Valjevo-Bajina Bašta in the north, the river Drina in the west, the river Zapadna Morava in the east, and the Sandžak region in the south.

The government was made of "people's councils" ("odbors"), and the Communists opened schools and published a newspaper, "Borba" (meaning "Struggle"). They even managed to run a postal system and around 145km of railway and operated an ammunition factory from the vaults beneath the bank in Užice ["The Balkans" Misha Glenny, 1999, p487] .

In November 1941, in so-called first offensive, the German troops occupied this territory again, while the majority of Partisan forces escaped towards Bosnia, Sandžak and Montenegro, re-grouping at Foča in Bosnia.

Trivia

The 1974 historical movie "Užička Republika" ("The Republic of Užice") [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067920/] covers the events surrounding the existence of the Republic of Užice.

References

General references

*Venceslav Glišić, Užička republika, Beograd, 1986.
*Јован Радовановић, 67 дана Ужичке републике, Београд, 1972. (прво издање 1961.)
*Boško N. Kostić, Za istoriju naših dana, Lille, France, 1949.

References

ee also

*Former countries in Europe after 1815
*Serbia (1941-1944)
*Partisans (Yugoslavia)

External links

* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-43582/Serbia Modern Serbia - Revolution and the antifascist struggle (Encyclopædia Britannica)]
* [http://www.rpk-uzice.co.yu/sr/uzice.htm Opština Užice]
* [http://www.serbiainyourhands.com/regions-western-serbia.php Western Serbia]
* [http://bosnjaci.net/aktuelnosti.php?id=193&polje=historija Bošnjaci u drugom svjetskom ratu: Užička republika - Prva neprijateljska ofanziva]